Merchandiser Assembly

ABSTRACT

A merchandiser assembly includes a base and a plurality of support hoops having support arms and a divider arm, wherein the support arms may be secured adjacent to the base. The hoops may define a gap formed between the hoops for containing rolled articles from movement in a transverse direction. The merchandiser assembly may also include a plurality of gate assemblies located on the support hoops for further containing rolled articles from movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to said traverse direction.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/201,903 filed Aug. 11, 2005 and entitled“MERCHANDISER ASSEMBLY,” which claims priority to and the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 60/601,096 filed Aug. 12, 2004. Thepresent application claims priority to and the benefit of both U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/201,903 and U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/601,096, and the disclosure of each is incorporated by referenceherein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an assembly for transporting and displayingrugs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the rug industry, manufacturers design and produce rugs for shipmentto distributors and/or vendors. Once produced, it is desired that therugs are packaged in a manner to allow easy loading/unloading of therugs onto/off of a truck. In the past, manufacturers would roll the rugsand place them lengthwise on pallets. The problem with this approach wasthat pallet loaders or forklifts had difficulty accessing the pallet andloading the pallet full of rugs on the truck. To solve this problem,manufacturers began using open top merchandiser assemblies so that rugscould be stood on end (e.g. vertically) within the cage of the assembly.However, these merchandiser assemblies proved to be weak and oftenfailed due to the weight of the heavy stacked rugs. In addition, asvendors desired to display rugs in the same assemblies in which the rugswere shipped, stronger, more functional assemblies were needed.

As such, there is a need for durable merchandiser assemblies configuredto secure a number of rugs during transport and display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is intended to address and obviateproblems and shortcomings and otherwise improve previous merchandiserassemblies.

In one embodiment, a merchandising assembly includes a base and aplurality of support hoops that include support arms and a divider arm,wherein the support arms are secured to the base and wherein a pluralityof gaps are defined between the support hoops for containing rolledarticles from movement in a traverse direction. The assembly furtherincludes a plurality of gate assemblies, the gate assemblies includingat least one wing hingedly connected to a center section, wherein thegate assemblies are located on the divider arms of the support hoops forcontaining a rolled article from movement in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to said traverse direction. The at least one wing of saidgate assemblies is capable of bending from a substantially flatconfiguration in an upward or downward direction, wherein when the wingis in a substantially flat configuration, the rolled article iscontained from movement in a direction substantially perpendicular tothe transverse direction, and when the wing is bent in an upward ordownward direction, the rolled article is not contained from movement ina direction substantially perpendicular to the transverse direction.

In another embodiment, a merchandising assembly includes a base and aplurality of support hoops that include support arms and a divider arm,wherein the support arms are secured to the base and wherein a pluralityof gaps are defined between the support hoops for containing rolledarticles from movement in a traverse direction. The assembly furtherincludes a plurality of gate assemblies, the gate assemblies includingat least one wing hingedly connected to a center section, wherein theplurality of gate assemblies are located on the divider arms of thesupport hoops for containing the rolled article from movement in adirection substantially perpendicular to the traverse direction. Theplurality of gates are capable of hinged movement from a clearanceposition to a support position, wherein the gate assemblies are orientedin clearance position when the at least one wing is positioned in anupward or downward orientation, and the gate assemblies are oriented ina support position when the at least one wing is positioned in asubstantially flat orientation and supports at least a portion of theweight of the rolled article in an upright orientation.

Still other embodiments, combinations and advantages will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following descriptionswherein there are shown and described alternative illustrativeembodiments of this invention for illustration purposes. As will berealized, the invention is capable of other different aspects, objectsand embodiments all without departing from the scope of the invention.Accordingly, the drawings and description should be regarded asillustrative and illustrative in nature only and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is believed that the present invention will be better understood fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a merchandiser assembly inaccordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled merchandiser assembly ofFIG. 1 with a rug secured therein;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a merchandiser assembly in accordancewith another illustrative embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a view of a portion of the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3,showing a portion of a support hoop with attached gate assemblies.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawing figures in detail, wherein like numeralsindicate the same elements throughout the drawing figures, FIG. 1illustrates an exploded view of merchandiser assembly 10 according toone illustrative embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated,merchandiser assembly 10 may comprise base 12, a pair of base arm mounts20, a plurality of support hoops 30, rest rail 40 (or rail segments 41,as further detailed herein) and rear rail 50. As discussed later herein,and illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, these and other components can befitted together to form merchandiser assembly 10 and 110 fortransporting and displaying rugs 17 and other articles of various sizesin a convenient and space efficient manner. Moreover, while the presentinvention is described as being used with transporting and displayingrugs, other products may be used in association with the presentinvention.

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, base 12 of merchandiser assembly 10 and 110 isillustrated as comprising a pallet type design. More particularly,pallet 12 may comprise a plurality of spaced slats 14 secured to frame16. The design allows vertically displayed rugs to rest in betweenspaced slats 14. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, corner 18 ofrolled rug 17 may rest between slats 14 a and 14 b. This design mayassist in keeping the rolled rugs 17 in a vertical orientation. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, other embodiments may further include a pluralityof lower gripping rails 15 that may be attached perpendicular to spacedslats 14. This design may also assist in keeping a rolled rug in avertical position. Pallet design is also useful as it provides channels19 for accepting the forks of a forklift and/or a pallet loader fortransporting the merchandiser assembly about a display surface orfrom/to a transport truck. Of course any base may be used such as, forexample, a base comprising a solid sheet in place of the slats with aplurality of holes cut therein so as to accept and secure a rolled rug.

In order to secure support hoops 30 to base 12, a pair of base armmounts 20 may be used. As illustrated, each base arm mount 20 maycomprise a generally U-shaped configuration with a number of supporthoop apertures 22 therein. In addition, base arm mount 20 may comprisemount lip 24 and upper and lower prop lips 26 a and 26 b. Although apair of base arm mounts 20 are illustrated, any number of base armmounts 20 may be used.

Base arm mount 20 may be secured to base 12 and may be configured totelescopingly receive support hoops 30. More particularly, mount lip 24of base arm mount 20 may be located on slat 14 of base 12 and then maybe secured thereto by drilling fasteners through holes 28 located inmount lip 24 and into slat 14 of base 12. As illustrated in FIG. 2, basearm mounts 20 may be secured to base 12 at the outer edge thereof.However, it is contemplated that base arm mounts 20 may be secured atany location on the base. In addition, it should be understood that basearm mounts 20 may comprise any apparatus or assembly configured toreceive and maintain support hoops 30 in a desired position.

As illustrated, merchandiser assembly may also comprise a plurality ofsupport hoops 30. Between these support hoops 30, a gap may be formed sothat rugs may be inserted and maintained during transport and/ordisplay. More particularly, rugs or other rolled articles positionedwithin the gaps are contained from movement in a side-to-side (traverse)direction. While rugs may be able to move forward and backward withinthe gaps, such rugs are contained sufficiently to prevent the rugs fromfalling to the ground in a side-to-side direction.

Each support hoop 30 may comprise two support arms 32 and a divider arm34 to form a generally U-shaped configuration or hoop. Support arms 32and divider arm 34 may comprise individual components telescopinglyfitted together, or in another embodiment, may comprise a single piece,such as a single post bent into a U-shaped configuration. Of course, inanother embodiment “support hoops” may actually comprise a wall or othersuch divider for rugs or articles capable of containing the same.Accordingly, the use of the term “hoop” is not intended to connote astructural limitation. Upper and lower ends 32 a and 32 b of supportarms 32 or hoop 30 may comprise openings 36 and 38 for accepting one ormore fasteners discussed below.

To assist in the vertical positioning of the articles (e.g., rugs)within the gaps in a side-to-side direction, some embodiments (e.g.,FIG. 3) may further include one or more lower positioning member 31 toconnect between support arms 32 of support hoop 30. Lower positioningmember 31 may cooperate with divider arm 34 to maintain an article in avertical orientation by giving side support to the article both at thetop of support hoop 30 and near base 12. However, embodiments ofmerchandiser assembly 10 and 110 need not include lower positioningmember 31. Further, to assist in the vertical positioning of thearticles in a front-to-back direction, some embodiments (e.g., FIG. 3)also may include one or more gate assembly 300 located along divider arm34. Gate assembly 300 may work alone or may cooperate with lowergripping rails 15 to maintain an article in a vertical orientation bygiving front and/or back support to the article at base 12 and/or thetop of support hoop 30. As shown in FIG. 3, gate assembly 300 can bebent in an upward direction to allow articles to be placed within orremoved from the gaps (between support hoops 30 or between support hoops30 and adjacent gate assemblies 300), and bent back to a substantiallyflat configuration to support and/or contain articles in a verticalposition within the gaps between support hoops 30. However, as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, embodiments of merchandiser assembly 10 need not includelower gripping rails 15, nor gate assemblies 300.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, gate assembly 300 may comprise asubstantially flat elongated shape that is capable of being deformed inan upward or downward direction. However, any shape or configuration maybe utilized. Gate assembly 300 can be constructed of any material now orhereinafter know in the art that is capable of being bent, but alsocapable of holding a particular shape or bent configuration.Non-limiting examples include steel, aluminum, tin and other variousmetals, plastics, polymers and combinations thereof. In the non-limitingillustrated embodiments, gate assembly 300 comprises two wings 302hingedly connected to a center section 304, and two apertures 306 havingstops 308 defined therein. Center section 304 can be located overdivider arm 34 with wings 302 extending out from center section 304, atleast partially spanning the gap between support hoops 30. Apertures 306are located adjacent to center section 304. Because apertures 306 removea section of material across the width of gate assembly 300, theportions of gate assembly 300 where apertures 306 are located has aweaker bend modulus as compared to other portions of gate assembly 300.Accordingly, a user can bend and re-bend gate assembly 300 at thatparticular location from a substantially flat configuration to variousupward and/or downward configurations, or from various upward and/ordownward configurations to substantially flat configurations. However,other embodiments of gate assembly 300 may bend due to a predeterminedthinner or weaker point in the gate assembly, and therefore need notinclude apertures 306. Yet other embodiments may have gate assembliesthat utilize a pivot or hinge to connect the at least one wing with thecenter section, thus allowing the user to position the gate assembliesfrom substantially flat configurations to various upward and/or downwardconfigurations.

Gate assembly 300 may also include stops 308 to not allow wings 302 frombending past a substantially flat configuration in a downward directionor bending past a substantially flat configuration in a upwarddirection. The non-limiting embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4 show gateassemblies 300 including stops 308 that comprise protrusions that extendinto apertures 306 and rest against divider arm 34 when gate assembly isin a substantially flat orientation, and therefore do not allow wings302 to bend any further in a downward direction past the substantiallyflat orientation. Other non-illustrated embodiments may comprise gateassemblies 300 that include stops 308 that do not allow wings 302 tobend any further in an upward direction past the substantially flatorientation. However, other non-illustrated embodiments may comprisegate assembly 300 that does not include stops 308.

Accordingly, it should be understood that gate assembly 300 may be anydevice that can be secured to merchandiser assemblies 10 and 110discussed herein capable of hingedly and selectively moving at least onewing 302 from a clearance position where an article can be removed fromthe merchandiser assembly to a support position wherein at least aportion of the gate assembly supports at least a portion of the weightof an article to be displayed by the merchandiser assembly in an uprightorientation. A clearance position corresponds to wing 302 bent, deformedor positioned (through utilization of a hinge or otherwise) in a upwardor downward orientation. A support position corresponds to wing 302positioned in a substantially flat orientation, wherein an article mayrest on support surface 310 of wing 302. For example, as illustrated inthe non-limiting embodiment of FIG. 4, gate assembly 300 can be orientedto have both wings located in a clearance position (320), to have onewing oriented in a clearance position and one wing in a support position(330), or to have both wings located in a support position (340). Asfurther depicted in FIG. 3, an article (not shown) positioned inlocation 350 of merchandiser assembly 110 would be surrounded by fourwings, all positioned in a support orientation. Accordingly, an articlepositioned in location 350 would have four support surfaces to restagainst, therefore being supported in an upright position. An article(not shown) positioned in location 360 of merchandiser assembly 110would be surrounded by four wings, all in a clearance position.Accordingly, an article positioned in location 350 could be removed frommerchandiser assembly 110.

In some embodiments (e.g., FIGS. 3 and 4), gate assembly 300 may be aseparately manufactured part from divider arm 34, and attached todivider arm 34 through the utilization of any type of fastener. In otherembodiments, gate assembly 300 may be a separately manufactured partfrom divider arm 34, and attached to divider arm 34 through welding orthe utilization of an adhesive. In yet other embodiments, gate assembly300 and divider arm 34 may comprise a one-piece construction.

Referring back to the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 2, merchandiserassembly 10 comprises four support hoops 30. However, any number ofsupport hoops 30 may be secured to any desired size base. For instance,the non-limiting embodiment shown in FIG. 3 has seven support hoops 30.As previously discussed, support hoops may be telescopingly received inbase arm mounts 20 at support hoop apertures 20. More particularly,lower end 32 b of support hoop 30 may be received in upper and lowerapertures 22 a and 22 b of base arms mounts 20 and be secured theretowith, for example, a fastener, or other locking arrangement. In oneembodiment, lower end 32 b of support hoop 30 may rest on base 12 (e.g.FIGS. 1-3). In another embodiment, lower end 32 b of support hoop 30 mayrest on support arm mount 20. In addition, aside from resting on base12, lower ends 32 b of support hoops 30 are similarly stabilized againstupper and lower prop lips 26 a and 26 b of base arm mounts 20.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, support hoops 30 may also include reinforcingmembers 33. In some embodiments, reinforcing members 33 may be includedon the support hoops located on the outside perimeter of base 12 (e.g.,FIG. 3), or in other embodiments, located on other support hoops locatedat other various positions (e.g., not located on the outside perimeterof base 12). Because of this design, merchandiser assembly 10 cansupport heavy loads, such as rolled rugs contained between respectivesupport hoops 30.

Merchandiser assembly 10 may also comprise a rest rail 40 configured tobe removably secured to one or more support arms 30. More particularly,rest rail 40 may comprise upper and lower rail apertures 42 and 44 eachconfigured to be secured to support arm openings 36, depending on thedesired orientation of the rest rail 40. The rest rail 40 may beconfigured to provide a surface for one or more vertically rolled rugs17 or other articles to rest against (see FIG. 2). In addition, restrail 40 may be removable so as to load and unload merchandiser assembly.Of course, a number of components or combinations of components can beused to provide a surface to prevent or inhibit movement of the rugs ina forward direction. Accordingly, use of the term “rail” should not belimited in structure as other such components (e.g., divider, barrier,etc.) can be used. For example, as illustrated in the embodiment of FIG.3, the rest rail may comprise a plurality of rest segments 41. Restsegments 41 may work together to function as a rail, or may workindividually to allow articles to be removed from a single gap betweensupport arms 32.

In use, rest rail 40 or rest segments 41 may be attached across one ormore gap so as to contain rolled articles from movement in afront-to-back direction discussed above. Such containment of forwardand/or backward movement can mean prevention of the rugs from fallingforward or backward (depending on the location of the rest rail) to theground. Limited front-to-back movement discussed above may beappropriate when the merchandiser is not full.

It is a feature of some embodiments that rolled rugs 17 of various sizesmay be accommodated by switching the rest rail from tall and shortorientations. By way of example, if the rolled rug 17 of FIG. 2 was a8×11 rug (e.g. 8 foot wide, and therefore, 8 foot tall in themerchandiser assembly 10), rest rail 40 may be configured in its tallorientation as shown (e.g. rail apertures 44 aligned and secured tosupport arm openings 36) so that a taller rolled rug does not fall outof merchandiser assembly because rest surface 46 is higher. However, ifa 6×9 rug were inserted into the merchandiser assembly 10 of FIG. 2(e.g., an assembly with the rest rail in the tall orientation), the rugmay fall under rest rail 40 and onto a display surface. Accordingly,rest rail 40 may be switched to its lower orientation (e.g. railapertures 42 aligned and secured to support arm openings 36) to providea support surface 46 for smaller sized rugs. It is contemplated that iflarger rugs are to be transported or displayed, the rest rail 40 will besecured in its tall orientation (e.g., FIG. 2).

It should be understood that although rest rail 40 is illustrated asbeing fixedly secured to two support hoops 30 (e.g. rail apertures 42 or44 aligned and secured to support arm openings 36), a number ofalternative embodiments are contemplated. For example, rest rail 40 maybe configured to be telescopingly received by support hoops 30 such asat the outermost support hoops, between adjacent support hoops orintermittent support hoops. Such may be accomplished by providingapertures within support hoops and securing rest rail therein throughsnap locks or other convention locking devices. In addition, althoughrest rail 40 and rest segments 41 are illustrated as being locatedtoward the outer end of support hoops 30, any type of rest rail may belocated at any position along support hoops and/or base.

Rear rail 50 is illustrated and configured to prevent one or more rolledrugs 17 from falling out of the rear of the merchandiser assembly 10. Asillustrated, rear rail 50 may be configured to be fixedly secured to oneor more support hoops 30 such as at openings 36. This embodiment may bedesired when rugs are being transported and increased stability of themerchandiser assembly 10 is preferred. However, in another embodiment,rear rail 50 may be selectively removable from one or all support hoops30. Such embodiment may be desired when the merchandiser assembly 10 isused to display rugs. More particularly, if a customer desires topurchase a rug displayed in the merchandiser assembly 10, a vendor cansimply remove rear rail 50 and remove the rolled rugs from the gapdefined by adjacent support hoops (assuming the desired rug is not firstin line). Once removed, vendor can reattach rear rail 50. In suchembodiment, the rear rail 50 may be secured to one or more support hoopsthrough a snap and lock assembly, or other locking arrangement. The rearrail 50 may be configured to be removable from all of the support hoops30 or simply between adjacent support hoops, such as 30 a and 30 b (seeFIG. 2). Such may be accomplished by, for example, providing hingesbetween adjacent rear rail pieces and corresponding to the support hoops30. Of course, as discussed, it is contemplated that rest rail 40 maysimilarly be removed to load and unload rugs in the merchandiseassembly.

One of the aspects of the present invention, as previously discussed, isthat the merchandiser assembly can be used to transport and displayrolled rugs. It is contemplated that merchandiser assembly 10 can bemodular so that each can be individually broken down and shipped to avendor and/or manufacturer. For example, if a manufacturer has rugs tobe shipped, the broken down merchandiser assembly can be delivered tothe manufacturer in a packaged container. The manufacturer may then useits own base (e.g., a pallet where applicable or desired) and constructthe merchandiser assembly as discussed above. The manufacturer may thenload the merchandiser assembly full of rugs for transport to a vendor.Because the merchandiser assembly is designed to adapt to a conventionalpallet, the constructed assembly with pallet base may be loaded onto atruck and shipped to a vendor. Once received by the vendor, the vendormay unload the merchandiser assembly from the truck and place theassembly directly in a display room, thus eliminating the step ofunloading each individual rug and transferring the same to a displayrack. In addition, if a vendor has rugs from a manufacturer that doesnot utilize the merchandiser assembly, the same broken down packagedmerchandiser assembly can be shipped to the vendor, assembled and usesolely to display any number of rugs. As such, the present inventionprovides a stable assembly for transporting and displaying rugs.

The foregoing description of the various embodiments of the inventionhas been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. Itis not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise form disclosed. Many alternatives, modifications and variationswill be apparent to those skilled in the art of the above teaching. Forexample, the merchandiser assemblies in accordance with the presentinvention may display rugs of varying sizes and shapes in a variety ofdifferent arrangements and can include bases, arm base mounts andsupport hoops organized in a variety of arrangements. Accordingly, whilesome of the alternative embodiments of the merchandiser assembly havebeen discussed specifically, other embodiments will be apparent orrelatively easily developed by those of ordinary skill in the art.Accordingly, this invention is intended to embrace all alternatives,modifications and variations that have been discussed herein.

1. A merchandiser assembly comprising: a base; a plurality of supporthoops comprising support arms and a divider arm, wherein said supportarms are secured to said base and wherein a plurality of gaps aredefined between said support hoops for containing at least one rolledarticle from movement in a traverse direction; and a plurality of gateassemblies comprising at least one wing hingedly connected to a centersection, wherein said plurality of gate assemblies are located on saiddivider arms of said support hoops for containing said at least onerolled article from movement in a direction substantially perpendicularto said traverse direction, wherein said at least one wing of said gateassemblies is capable of bending from a substantially flat configurationin an upward or downward direction, wherein when said wing is in asubstantially flat configuration said at least one rolled article iscontained from movement in a direction substantially perpendicular tosaid transverse direction, and wherein when said wing is bent in anupward or downward direction said at least one rolled article is notcontained from movement in a direction substantially perpendicular tosaid transverse direction.
 2. The merchandiser assembly of claim 1,wherein said gate assemblies further comprise at least one aperture. 3.The merchandiser assembly of claim 2, wherein said gate assembliesfurther comprise at least one stop.
 4. The merchandiser assembly ofclaim 1, further comprising a rest rail secured across said plurality ofsupport hoops, or a plurality of rest segments secured on said pluralityof support hoops.
 5. The merchandiser assembly of claim 1, wherein saidsupport arms of said support hoops are removeably secured to said base.6. The merchandiser assembly of claim 1, wherein said merchandiserassembly further comprises at least one base arm mount having aplurality of apertures configured to removeably receive said supportarms of said support hoops.
 7. The merchandiser assembly of claim 6,wherein said support arms of said plurality of said support hoops areremoveably secured to said base arm mount.
 8. The merchandiser assemblyof claim 6, wherein said base arm mount further comprises a mount lipconfigured to secure said base arm mount to said base.
 9. Themerchandiser assembly of claim 1, wherein said base is a pallet.
 10. Themerchandiser assembly of claim 1, wherein said base comprises channelsconfigured to receive forks of a forklift.
 11. The merchandiser assemblyof claim 1, wherein said rolled articles are rugs.
 12. A merchandiserassembly comprising: a base; a plurality of support hoops comprisingsupport arms and a divider arm, wherein said support arms are secured tosaid base and wherein a plurality of gaps are defined between saidsupport hoops for containing at least one rolled article from movementin a traverse direction; and a plurality of gate assemblies comprisingat least one wing hingedly connected to a center section, wherein saidplurality of gate assemblies are located on said divider arms of saidsupport hoops for containing said at least one rolled article frommovement in a direction substantially perpendicular to said traversedirection, wherein said plurality of gates are capable of hingedmovement from a clearance position to a support position, said gateassemblies being oriented in clearance position when said at least onewing is positioned in an upward or downward orientation, and said gateassemblies being oriented in a support position when said at least onewing is positioned in a substantially flat orientation and supports atleast a portion of the weight of said at least one rolled article in anupright orientation.
 13. The merchandiser assembly of claim 12, whereinsaid gate assemblies further comprise at least one aperture.
 14. Themerchandiser assembly of claim 13, wherein said gate assemblies furthercomprise at least one stop.
 15. The merchandiser assembly of claim 12,further comprising a rest rail secured across said plurality of supporthoops or a plurality of rest segments secured on said plurality ofsupport hoops.
 16. The merchandiser assembly of claim 15, wherein saidrest rail contains said rolled articles from movement in a directionperpendicular to said transverse direction, said rest rail comprising arest surface and being adjustable between a tall and short orientation,wherein when said rest rail is in said tall orientation, said restsurface is at a greater distance from said base than when said rest railis in said short orientation, so as to allow said rest rail to supportrolled articles of multiple lengths.
 17. The merchandiser assembly ofclaim 12, wherein said support arms of said plurality of said supporthoops are removeably secured to a base arm mount.
 18. The merchandiserassembly of claim 17, wherein said base arm mount further comprisesmount lips configured to secure said base arm mount to said base. 19.The merchandiser assembly of claim 12, wherein said base is a pallet.20. The merchandiser assembly of claim 12, wherein the gate assembliesare constructed of at least one of steel, aluminum, tin, other variousmetals, plastics and polymers.